The envoy sent by Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan was Shao Jianlu, a low-level official in the Prime Minister's Office who was responsible for sorting out documents. Shao Jianlu was someone who was afraid of death. He originally did not want to go to Jinying as an envoy, fearing that he would be detained by Jinying or lose his life.
At that time, Bai Shizhong said to Shao Jianlu: "When you go to the Jin camp, you only need to convey the imperial court's intention to cede territory and invite peace to the Jin army. Although you are an envoy of the imperial court, you are not a prince, nor a prime minister like us." As a senior official, the Jin Army will still bargain with the imperial court and will not do anything to you. In addition, if the peace talks succeed, after the Jin Kingdom withdraws its troops, you will be rewarded based on your merits. At that time, you will be the first to go to the Jin camp to facilitate the peace talks. You can't escape your credit. The truth will be reported to the Holy Spirit and you will be appointed to participate in political affairs. This opportunity is not available to everyone, so you must seize the opportunity."
The two prime ministers made the appointment and promised Shao Jianlu that he would receive a heavy reward when the work was completed. They asked the Holy Spirit to appoint him as a counselor in political affairs. The position of deputy prime minister was at the level of deputy prime minister. For Shao Jianlu, a third-rank official in the prime minister's office who was responsible for sorting out documents, the temptation was great enough. In order to participate in political affairs, Shao Jianlu agreed to go to Jinying as an envoy.
The next day, Shao Jianlu received the orders from Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan, left the south gate, and took a detour to the northern suburbs of Bianjing to discuss the matter of ceding territory and suing for peace in Jinying. On the way, he happened to meet Wu Xiaomin, an envoy of the Jin army. Since there was a Song army on duty outside the north gate, he also detoured to the south gate, hoping to enter Bianjing, pay a visit to the Song Dynasty prefecture, and convey Wanyan Zongwang's instructions.
Shao Jianlu was originally afraid of going to the Jin camp, but he happened to meet the Jin envoy Wu Xiaomin. He was overjoyed, so he used this as an excuse to lead the Jin envoy Wu Xiaomin back to the south gate, entered Bianjing, and returned to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
In the Prime Minister's Mansion, the duty officer told Shao Jianlu that Prime Ministers Bai and Li had not returned from court. If anything happened, they could go directly to the palace and report to the two Prime Ministers.
Wu Xiaomin, the envoy of the Jin Army, saw this and asked Shao Jianlu to introduce him to the palace. Shao Jianlu was also eager to meet the two prime ministers Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan, so he took Wu Xiaomin into the palace.
Shao Jianlu and Wu Xiaomin came to the palace and said to the general of the Royal Forest Army who was on duty: "The Jin Army has sent envoys here. If there is anything you want to report to the Holy Emperor, please send it in quickly. Don't miss the important event."
At that time, the situation was critical, and the generals of the Royal Forest Army did not dare to delay the matter, so they notified the envoy Jin of his request to see the Holy Emperor. Qin Zong was about to make peace. Hearing that the Jin army had taken the initiative to send an envoy, he let the page come in.
Shao Jianlu then took Wu Xiaomin into the palace.
Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were shocked when they saw Shao Jianlu entering the palace. They thought that if Shao Jianlu told the palace about his mission to Jinying, the ministers would be shocked, which would cause uproar and shouting. So, before Shao Jianlu could speak, Bai Shizhong took a step forward and said to Shao Jianlu: "Now that the Jin envoy has arrived, there will be nothing for you. You go back to your house quickly, and I will make arrangements for important matters after I leave the court."
Shao Jianlu saw this and left the hall.
After Shao Jianlu came out of the main hall, Wu Xiaomin, the envoy of the Jin Army, paid homage to Emperor Qinzong and said, "Your Excellency, the Great Emperor, I have been ordered by Prince Wanyan, the commander-in-chief of our Eastern Route Army, to come as an envoy to your country." Qinzong said: "If the envoy has anything to say, just say it."
Wu Xiaomin paid homage to Qin Zong again and said: "The second prince of our country led his army to the northern suburbs of Bianjing. I heard that the emperor of your country has ceded his throne to the great emperor, so I arranged for my envoy to send a message to the great emperor."
Qin Zong said: "What does your second prince want to tell me?"
Wu Xiaomin replied: "The second prince of our country said that since the emperor of your country has retired to the throne of the young emperor, the past matters no longer matter. The second prince asked my envoy to visit the great emperor, and asked the great emperor to re-alliance and reconciliation with Daijin, and send the prince and prime minister Go to our army to ask for peace.”
Qinzong was surprised when he saw it. Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were also surprised when they saw it. Qinzong was surprised because the Jin army made very high demands, asking him to send a prince to the Jin camp to ask for peace. It is obvious that the prince sent to the Jin camp will definitely become the hostage of the Jin army, and the Jin army will use this to blackmail me. Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were surprised because Wu Xiaomin directly said that he wanted the prime minister to go to Jinying to ask for peace. What should we do if the Jin man is cruel and kills us if we disagree? Therefore, Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were frightened and taken aback.
Surprised, Qinzong did not say which Qin king he would send to Jinying to ask for peace. He just turned to look at the Manchu ministers and asked: "Which of you is willing to go to Jinying to be the peace envoy?"
Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were the main conspirators in ceding territory and seeking peace. Qin Zong intended that one of them should take the initiative and request to be the peace envoy. However, after Qinzong asked, Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan did not say anything, and Qinzong understood in his heart that they were not willing to go directly to Jinying. Qinzong considered that under the current circumstances, he could not do without them for the time being, so he did not name them.
After Li Gang in the main hall heard Qinzong's question, he originally wanted to send Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan's army to attack Qinzong. Since Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan strongly advocated ceding territory and seeking peace, he asked them to go out. Make Jinying. However, Li Gang was even more afraid that Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan would betray the country and seek glory and agree to the Jin people's conditions without any principle. He then asked Qinzong to pay homage and said: "I am reporting to you, Your Majesty, that I am willing to serve as peace envoy to the Jin camp." , discuss the matter of peace."
Seeing this, Mr. Qin hurriedly said: "You have the important responsibility of defending the city. The safety of the country is tied to you. How can you leave? You can't go."
Li Gang said: "The Holy One is unwilling to send ministers to Jinying. Who do you want to send?"
Qinzong looked around at the ministers again.
All the ministers avoided Qin Zong's eyes.
Qinzong looked around at the ministers and said, "Li Chu, let's go!"
Among the ministers, Li Chu took a step forward and replied loudly: "I will obey the imperial edict."
Li Chen is the deputy minister of the Privy Council. Privy Councilor Tong Guan is not here, so it is natural that this job should fall on him. Li Chai knew that no matter whether he was willing or not, Qinzong directly named him, and he had to go even if he didn't want to, so he readily agreed.
After going to Jinying to negotiate with the envoys, all the ministers dispersed, except Li Gang who stood there and did not leave the palace.
After all the ministers left, Li Gang paid homage to Qin Zong again and asked, "I am going to report to the Holy One. I have something unclear. I voluntarily went to Jinying to negotiate peace. Why did the Holy One not agree to my request? Is it because I am not qualified enough?" "
Qin Zong said: "You are too worried. You have a strong personality and can't stand Jin Fang's arrogance. It is not appropriate for you to go to Jin camp to negotiate peace."
Li Gang then said to Qinzong: "Your Majesty, I request to go to the Jin camp to negotiate peace, but I have some ideas. Your Majesty, the Jin army is approaching the city, and King Qin's army has not arrived, so it is possible to negotiate a temporary peace; but the terms of the peace must be Appropriate, otherwise it will lead to disaster, and the safety of the clan will be at stake."
Qin Zong said: "I know this. This is the reason why I won't send you to negotiate peace. With your character, it is impossible to negotiate peace. Therefore, I sent Li Chu to leave some room."
Li Gang reported: "Your Majesty, Li Chu is cowardly and may have interfered with state affairs. The Jin people are greedy and will inevitably put forward very harsh terms. As long as the imperial court takes appropriate measures, the Jin people will retreat. If the imperial court is forced by the Jin people, If we agree to all their demands, the Jin people will despise us. In that case, there will be endless troubles."
Zhao Huan refused to listen and still insisted on sending Li Chao as an envoy to Jinying.
Zhao Huan's intention was to use Li Chao to delay the arrival of King Qin's army. Qinzong knew that with Li Chu's temperament, he would never dare to sign any negotiation document, it was just a message.
Seeing that Qinzong insisted on letting Li Chao go to Jin camp to negotiate peace, Li Gang said goodbye and left the palace to make arrangements for the defense of Bianjing.
Immediately, Li Chao, led by Wu Xiaomin, went to Jinying.
After meeting Wanyan Zongwang, Li Chao was so frightened that his legs trembled.
Wanyan Zongwang looked at Li Kai and asked: "Who is the official of the Song Dynasty?" Li Kai replied: "The humble envoy is the deputy minister of the Privy Council of the imperial court." Wanyan Zongwang continued to ask: "Why is Tong Guan, your country's Privy Councilor, in the future?"
Tong Guan followed the Supreme Emperor down south. How could Tong Guan come? Li Chao also knew that Tong Guan was famous, and perhaps the Jin people were also wary of Tong Guan, so he had an extra thought. He did not say that Tong Guan would go south with the Supreme Emperor, but said: "The defense of Bianjing is very important, and Privy Tong is organizing the defense of Bianjing." .”
When Wanyan Zong saw this, he pondered for a moment, and then said to Li Chen: "Our army has traveled a long distance to attack your country's Bianjing City. It is only a matter of time before your country's Bianjing falls. Considering that there was an alliance between the two countries. , our country does not need to capture your country’s capital, but your country must compensate our country’s expenses.”
Li Chao asked: "What are the conditions in your country?"
Wanyan Zongwang replied: "The conditions are not high! Five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver, 10,000 cattle and horses, and one million pieces of silk and satin. He respectfully calls Emperor Jin his uncle, and cuts off the three towns of Taiyuan, Zhongshan, and Hejian. The prince and prime minister will go to Jin camp as hostages and escort our army across the Yellow River, and our army will release the prince and prime minister of your country."
This condition was negotiated between Wanyan Zongwang, Wanyan Dalai Lama, Liu Yanzong and others. Because Wanyan Nianhan's West Route Army has never arrived at Bianjing City, it is impossible for Wanyan Zongwang's East Route Army to capture Bianjing. In addition, the Song Dynasty's Western Army is about to arrive. By then, don't say After capturing Bianjing, whether they can successfully withdraw their troops is a matter of course; therefore, after some discussion, several people decided to ask for gold, silver, silk and satin and ceded land as bait, so that the Song State could guarantee their safe withdrawal across the Yellow River, so as to avoid having to withdraw their troops across the Yellow River. At that time, he was pursued by the Song army.
The Song Dynasty was already extremely frightened at that time. He never thought of this situation. He agreed to all the conditions proposed by the Jin Army, as long as the Jin Army could retreat.
After listening to the conditions proposed by Yan Zongwang, Li Chao bowed to Yan Zongwang and said: "I have no right to reply to the conditions proposed by the king. I can only report them to the Holy One of our country, and it will be decided by the Holy One of our country."
Wanyan Zongwang said: "I also know that you have no right to decide such an important matter. Return home quickly and tell the emperor of your country that this condition is the minimum condition and cannot be negotiated. You will reply within three days. If there is no reply within three days, , our army will launch the siege as scheduled."
Li Chen then took back Wanyan Zongwang's terms and reported them to Qinzong Emperor Zhao Huan.
